


Partner

by ThinkingCAPSLOCK



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Sburb Session, Black Romance, Death, Established Relationship, F/F, Gore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-26
Updated: 2012-12-26
Packaged: 2017-11-22 12:49:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/609992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThinkingCAPSLOCK/pseuds/ThinkingCAPSLOCK
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes they could work together towards a common goal. The rest of the time Rose Lalonde went out for tea.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Partner

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Sermna](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sermna/gifts).



A hazy lilac purple settled across the sky as Rose Lalonde brought the cup of steaming tea to her lips. It was nothing like what she was used to on Earth - it was a tangy green in colour, as things often were when made by trolls. The breeze whispered by her ears. It was far too early for the hustle of the day to begin, but she preferred these moments between day and night to have a drink. It was peaceful, relaxing, and above all, it was time to herself.

She closed her eyes a moment, taking a deep breath. And then she heard it. The familiar step, step, click. Step, step, click. Her brows furrowed together as the noise became louder and louder. Rose sipped her tea again, pondering if she should have tried to bring some of her own honey for it. 

The screech of the chair across from her made Rose crack a single eye open. Terezi Pyrope, teal and red suit dazzling in the fading light, sat leaning forward on her elbows, fingers tangled in each other. Her mouth sat in a hard, straight line. A dark tongue darted across them. 

"Rose Lalonde," she said, eyebrows reaching new heights upon her forehead. "Are you going to let me show up and not immediately offer to pay for my drink?"

"Yes."

"Rude as ever!"

Rose watched as Terezi summoned the brown blooded server, ordered the most ridiculous, over the top troll sludge coffee formula, and subtly point towards the blonde when mentioning the bill. With a frustrated sigh, Rose sipped her tea again. It was almost cold. 

"Why are you here, Pyrope?" Rose asked, as the server scuttled away back to the kitchen, confused expression clear on his face. "I thought you were rather busy these days. Being a lawyer is hard work." 

"Protégé lawyer!" the troll corrected, leaning ever forward on her elbows. "If we are speaking in human terms, of course. And it is very hard work! Hard work I do not think you appreciate very much." 

The troll continued to talk, her voice a filter of high, unwanted background noise, as Rose sipped at her tea and watched the sky change from a light to dark purple, from indigo down to navy blue. The pale, green lights of the café deck flickered to life around them, reflecting shapes off of Terezi's thick red glasses. 

"Rose Lalonde, I do not think you are listening!"

Terezi's voice always had a certain twinge to it when she said Lalonde. It drew Rose away from the spectacle of the scenery, and her eyes narrowed at her company. "Because I'm not."

"You should be." The subtle shift in her voice caught Rose's attention. The edge she had right before she broke bad news. Rose was used to the shift, of course - years of friendship did that, and it wasn't like Terezi never visited. But if the lawyer meant business, she meant business. 

The blind troll shifted her hair around her horns for a moment, and grinned as the server brought her drink over. Rose watched with careful eyes as Terezi curled long, scarred fingers around the handle, sipped, and waited. She was doing it on purpose. It was another few minutes (in which Rose contemplated her fingertips quite deeply, she was in need of a nail file) before the troll settled the cup not quite perfectly back on its yellow saucer. 

"You know if this goes too far, I am not going to be able to protect you both! Mostly because they will not give me both your cases," Terezi explained, her voice with a slight hush to it. "I believe you should try and move on. I do not think jail time on this planet would do you any good, Lalonde."

"No, I think an Alternian based jail system on this dreadful planet ill suits my delicate, alien needs," Rose said, her finger tracing the rim of the cup. "Besides, we're almost done here. She just needed to finish her end of the job."

"So you know quite well Vriska Serket is currently sitting in a high security prison."

Rose glanced over, knowing full well she could not make eye contact with the blind troll, but resting her gaze on the red shades no less. "Terezi, you know as well as I do that Vriska has broken out of it by now."

A grin tugged Terezi's lips wider. "Are you so certain?" 

"Quite certain. Otherwise you never would have come for tea."

Rose signaled for a refill as Terezi let out a loud, boisterous laugh. 

-

Your name is Vriska Serket, and you are going to rip so much hair off Rose Lalonde's head that she is going to be bald for the rest of her miserable life. 

It's not the worst thought you've had these past few days. Days? Fuck, she's got you thinking in her dumb alien terms. You didn't even notice. It doesn't exactly convert well and you think the word itself is really ugly. But you're stuck using it because of her. You're extra pissed off. 

You look around. The alley is dark, but the air is loud with running, footsteps, shouts, and the presence of every form of law enforcement and military officer within the immediate area looking for you. Your good arm's bleeding and your metal arm is falling apart, but otherwise everything's good. Not bad for your second prison break.

But you don't exactly care about the prison break. Bashing heads is easy. Boring! You yawned a few times busting out, you admit. In fact you would have gotten out without a hitch if soooooooomeone hadn't fallen down into the pit and let the staff know. Dead bodies were just so annoying like that. 

But none of it would have been a damn problem if that no good, scrawny, child sized shit that was Rose Lalonde. You keep thinking about that smirk as she gave you that final kiss, reaching into your coat pocket and taking the flash drive. And then showing you she took it. And then grabbing the rope from the helicopter, saluting. And then her laugh as she swung out into the middle of the street, way further than you could jump.

You thought about it a lot when you were jumped on by some higher blooded security. She made a good choice (in fact you would have ditched her loooooooong before if she didn't have the other flash drive hidden on her), but you still hated her for it. She was probably out doing human things, like filing her nails and brushing her teeth when you busted your ass killing your way out of jail. Eugh.

The shouts became a bit louder and you stand, slowly, eye glued on the entrance of the alley. They'd taken your eye patch, sure, but you had eight replacements at base. You move back, one small step at a time. A trail of blood forms as a dark splotch on the ground the further you inch, hot against your skin. A figure appears in the alley entrance way.

(And you never liked sneaking around. That's not how you make a name for yourself!)

You launch forward. You keep low, taking long, practiced strides. One, two, three, and you launch in the air. Shoulder collides with neck and you hear a familiar choking gasp. You grin. You dig fingers in deep against his collar, feeling nails go through flesh and then muscle. Their eyes grow small and large all at once and you positively slam your metal hand against their nose. Their blood is far too dark to see colour.

Down the open road, another officer appears. You flip her the bird. Fuck, is that another human phrase? It doesn't even look like alien birds! You think about killing her too, but you only have soooooooo many punches to throw and you need to save some for the snot nosed ugly faced smart and clever girl you cohabitate with as payment for taking your hijacking spoils to a safe location.

Stupid, practical Rose Lalonde. You give another glance to your surroundings. You run back down the alley, hearing footsteps ring out behind you. Fucking Lalonde. She isn't even here to help you escape!

You launch over the brick wall, tuck and roll, and slam your face into someone's legs.

"Fuck!" you shout, grabbing your nose. "Get the fuck out of-"

"Crass as per usual. And you're late."

"I'm late? Where were you! I almost fell asleep breaking out of jail, which you left me in. God, could you pick a more boring planet to strand me?!" You sit back on your ass, looking up. She's wearing her dumb overcoat that she goes out for drinks in. It flatters her curves. 

"Someone wanted to go steal choice information on a planet where her girlfriend was. That someone was you, by the way. In case you've forgotten. You tend to delete these important little facts, hm?"

You can hear the smirk in her voice. You punch Rose Lalonde's kneecap with your metal arm. She offers a small grunt in reply.

In a hop, you're on your feet. You stretch once, watching Rose Lalonde watch you. She's a quiet observer, and it rubs you the wrong way. Doesn't suit the blaring sirens that are probably circling back towards your side of the alley. You make a point of yawning.

"Let's go already!" you snap, pushing past her onto the open road. "I can't take another nap!"

A vehicle spins onto the street, lights flashing and horns blaring at you. You watch, wait, and as soon as it draws close enough, jump. You press your palms down flat on the windshield and flip, muscles screaming at you. You laugh as hair spills over your shoulders and tangles in your horns. Your sneakers skid along the street when you land, and the car spins to a stop.

Two figures emerge - a troll, and surprisingly, a human as well. You glance to the alley, but Rose isn't there anymore. Sneaky ass. She's probably off brushing her hair and doing her lipstick before she gets her hands dirty. She's all about making good impressions.

You hear a blast and a small, sharp pain rings through your shoulder. You glance to it, seeing another spot of blue blood burble out. Huh. Maybe you were shot. 

You saunter a bit forward, kinda casually, because you are far too awesome to be annoyed. Like damn, that gun didn't even hurt that much! What the shit crap was up with that? You should have top of the line snipers after you right now. You are, after all, Vriska Serket.

"Hey fuckers!" you shout. The two whatevers straighten, fixing their eyes on you. "You wanna play a game?"

Silence. 

"Come on you shits! A game. It'll be fun. Trust me, I am the best at this. The best! You pick a number between one and eight. Whoever's closest I won't kill. Got it?"

Both of them aimed their weapons. Well fiiiiiiiine. 

You dodge the next bullet (way too predictable, who even takes headshots anymore?) and run forward. The human ducks behind the car door but you punch clean through it and into his gut. Metal arm grinds on metal door and you slam the body forwards. You hear a satisfying choking noise as you draw your hand back, dripping red.

Taking advantage of his surprise you sweep out his legs, the noise of sirens and guns muffled in the background. He falls hard and you flip around the other side of the door, swinging with the roof through the front seat. You land your feet firmly on the chest of the troll guard - an older teal blood! Fancy that!

You grab her shirt.

"What's your number?" you breathe. Her eyes are set and cold. Blood trickles out her nose.

She opens her mouth. Rose Lalonde steps on her face.

"Let's go."

You scowl. She's using her tone again. "Fine Lalonde. But you're-"

"Ruining your game. I know. Get in the car."

You climb back in, making a point of taking the driver's side and slamming the door. Rose gets in with all the grace of a one legged table and closes her door much more gently.

You start the car. You slam Rose Lalonde's face into the dashboard as you back up down the road. She sits up with a bloody nose, a scowl, and her usual disparaging look. 

"I missed you too," she said flatly, and you grin as you slam down on the gas.

-

Vriska trailed behind Rose as the two made their way down the steps of the old warehouse. It had been taken over only a few months before, and was still a bit run down. Especially for Rose's taste. The main base was so much better looked after and cared for, and when one was stealing information to try and overthrow a government, comfort was a top priority.

Rose sometimes forgot what a lovely job she had gotten herself into.

"I should have left you on that damned planet," Vriska spat. Rose rolled her eyes and mouthed the words as the troll spoke them. "I could have taken one look at your squishy skinned face and left you in the ashes! And the only reason I picked you up at all was because Terezi was like, well she was smart enough to trip you!"

"You were dumb enough to trip, more like," Rose commented. She reached the bottom of the steps and punched in a code. The door swung inwards with a grinding, metallic noise. Rose wiped her nose one last time before stepping through. 

The lights were low and fluorescent, making a dim, white glow shine over the towers of electronics. A few people bustled about to either side. Rose picked her way between stacks of books, propaganda posters, a group of cats, and a television on her way to the back section where the group slept. As miserable a task as it was, Vriska would be insufferable until some repairs were done on her arms. 

Vriska continued to complain the entire walk back through the halls, as Rose nodded to the others as they walked past. With any luck, after she patched up her wayward partner, Jade would have finished the analysis on their information and Rose could sort through what they were looking for. With any luck, it would tell them where some weaponry shipments would be headed, or at the very least, lead them to the warehouse. Diverting supplies was so mundane, but needed to be done. And information was, of course, scarce.

Further down the hall Vriska brushed ahead, leaving her blue train behind her. She opened the door to her room, and Rose followed at her usual pace. The troll's room was a mess, of course. Eight balls, maps, weapons, gold, all stolen on raids of ships and armories over the past three years. Vriska prowled as Rose leaned in the doorway, waiting to be inevitably handed medical supplies.

Almost ten minutes passed before Vriska offered a wrench and a bandage roll, and sat square on the floor. Rose brushed a metal cup to the side with her foot before closing the door and sitting in front of the troll. For a while, she worked in silence, pulling pieces of metal loose, and rhythmically replacing them. Vriska, for once, was blissfully silent. 

"Shirt off," Rose commanded, switching the wrench out for a needle. She threaded it carefully as the troll stripped from her prison garb, scarred chest and shoulder revealed. Rose examined the shoulder and arm wounds for a moment, as Vriska tied her hair back. 

Rose set to work mopping up the excess blood with the ugly shirt Vriska had been wearing.

"Jade cracked the flash drive shit yet?" Vriska asked. 

"Not since I left," Rose replied, settling close and beginning to sew up the shoulder. The needle carefully passed through grey flesh and blue blood. "She's been busy with other things."

"Who cares? You all sit around drinking tea and making dumb faces and showering. Humans, bah. If you weren't so easy to recruit for these things-"

"You never would have invited us to your underground troll rebellion, I know," Rose muttered, pulling harder on the needle than need be. Vriska flinched. "But really, when you took over Earth, what did you expect? We humans are fond of rebelling." 

"Yeah, so you've said. A lot. Blah blah humans, blah blah rebellion. You're just in it so you can look smart and make people do what you say, Lalonde."

"You're just in it to get rich and bash law enforcement's faces into different surfaces, Serket."

Vriska shrugged, making Rose drop the needle. The blonde scowled and Vriska flashed her sharp teeth, a daring look in her good eye as her red one shone out in the flickering light.

"Been a while," Vriska commented. "I got pretty bored in jail, you know."

"It was hardly two days you were in there, Vriska. Don't tell me you lost track of time that fast."

There was a hand in Rose's hair, pulling her in close. She could feel Vriska's breath against her ear as her nails dug deep into blonde hair and skin.

Rose pulled back, took one look at the stupid smirk plastered against Vriska Serket's face, and leaned in. She bit deep against Vriska's lip and earned a laugh, as a hand crushed her to the troll's face. Teeth, blood, and lips mashed and mingled between gasps. Rose dug her nails against the half stitched bullet wound before drawing back and wiping her mouth. 

Vriska leaned back casually as Rose resumed stitching, being sure to pull a bit too roughly on the needle.

-

You wake up not remembering going to sleep. You vaguely recall something about Jade coming in and Rose leaving to go decode some bullshit information. Not your style. Where was the glory in reading things once you got them? Maybe you fell asleep after they started talking about it. It seemed more than likely. 

With a movement you flop out of your bed, stretching metal arm and flesh arm high up and low down. For all her horrid ways, Rose Lalonde sure learned how to fix an arm damn well. You flex them both a few times in front of the mirror before throwing on nearby jeans (dirty but comfy) and a shirt (also dirty, which smelt like the booze you spilt on it two weeks ago). Close enough!

After taking a few more moments to admire how hot you look, you make your way out of your room, and you only trip once! You brush it off by rolling. Practice. Keeping yourself on your toes. The hallway is a dingy as ever, and you seriously wish that the place Terezi worked at didn't have such a god awful base. You liked giving the middle finger to the cops and to the Empress as much as the next hotheaded troll, but you'd waaaaaaaay rather do it in comfort. 

But you'd only be here a few more days, if that. Big business out there in the world, and you had way more wealth to steal and irons in the fire to wait around to mack on your law abiding flushed quadrant. There are way more important places for you to be. You are practically the figurehead of this rebellion! Everyone knows your face. And it's great. So great. Perfect. 

You walk slowly down the hall, barefoot on the cold stone floor and your hands stuffed into your pockets. Lalonde would be working on reviewing information and you'd rather hear that lecture sooner than later. Besides, troll's gotta eat, and you don't feel like puking listening to that awful droning. Barely anyone passes you, and the few trolls who do look away - as they should, damn, everyone should be scared of you. (But one of them covers their nose and you think maybe the booze shirt was a bad plan after all). 

You throw open the door to the computer lab, mouth beginning to grin. You-

"Did someone vomit up their drink or have you still not washed your damn shirt, Vriska?"

No, this shirt was the perfect choice after all.

"Sup Lalonde!" you greet, making your way over to her chair. The blonde was poring over her screen, typing away. You make sure to put your hand too far down the chair and lean in towards her nose. She practically gags.

"Doing work, unlike you," comes the reply. Lalonde still hasn't fixed her lipstick. A black smudge runs down her cheek. 

"I did my work. I'm outta jail."

You flop your ass on the computer desk as Rose Lalonde types a few more things, then pulls up a document on the screen.

"We still don't have the new secure supply line for the Empress' new weaponry shipments. It seems the information you went to jail for was lacking in clearance after all," Rose comments. You pick dry blood off your metal arm. "On the other hand, though, I found a place where the guards who train new recruits live. But Terezi did warn us to leave soon."

You pause. Terezi was a pretty good voice of reason most of the time. "One more run won't hurt shit. Barracks?"

"Yup."

"Surveillance?"

"Of course."

You give her a wink with your bad eye. "Time to knock some more heads, Lalonde?"

She offers you a smile in return, cracking her knuckles. "Of course. We have some interrogation to do, don't we Miss Serket? I'd like to know the supply lines before we leave this planet."

"I'll get some weapons," you reply, giving her shoulder a good smack as you slide off the desk. Interrogation was bullshit. You could think of a much better way to put a dent in the Empress' power for a bit.

-

Rose tended to try and keep simple rules in her mind when going in to kill a large amount of people. Number one was being quiet. Number two was not making a show of it. 

Number three was she would never actually get to abide by these rules, as Vriska Serket always had her own plans. And they were loud.

The troll launched from her place crouched on the floor towards the figure who had just rounded the corner. Her scimitar danced in the green light of the hallway, quick to splay open mustard blood by slicing off an arm (though Rose was still certain a scimitar was the worst weapon to bring around in this day and age, Vriska insisted, and it was the best way to shut her up). 

The mustard blood was already on the ground by the time Rose decided to stand. Vriska crushed her blade down against his remaining arm, her face inches above his. The slow rip of fabric began, quickly drowned out by a scream. Rose made careful steps over towards the troll, attempting to avoid the splatters of blood as best she could. Her shoes were, after all, rather new.

The blade sat halfway into the flesh of his arm. Blood trickled out from his nose and behind his head. As Rose walked past, Vriska took a metal fist and punched his face eight times. A gurgling gasp escaped his lips.

"I'm going to head down this way," Rose stated. She pointed down the hall the guard had turned from. "I know the routes of the guards. I'll leave some for you to pick off."

"Make them higher bloods, lowbloods are lame to kill," Vriska replied, pushing her blade clean through flesh and bone in the guards arm. His scream was cut short by an elbow to his neck. "If I have to do this again I am going to blow up the whole building instead of going along with your dumb plan."

Rose shrugged, picking her way over the body and down the hall. Her footsteps fell near silently as she walked past rows of lockers. Each was locked with a keypad, and she tested them all. With a small sigh, she gave a look in either direction, before drawing out two thin needles. She jammed them clean into the keypad, removed them, and jammed them in again. 

Sparks flew upwards, and a faint ringing could be heard from down the hall. Most likely an alarm. Rose turned the handle and gathered her needles back up, smirking as she heard the click and hiss of the locker unhappily giving way. She pushed the door back and looked in. Uniforms. An unloaded rifle. Nothing useful. Her smirk was quick to disappear. 

The locker door slammed down on her neck and she grit her teeth, a moment of shock and pain passing through her. She spun around quickly, but not fast enough to dodge a hand grabbing her throat and throwing her across the hallway. She hit the lockers with a clatter, her vision blurring. The throw wasn't supposed to hurt her, it had been too light. 

She opened an eye, quickly taking in a figure with wide horns and a gun in their hand. Alright, fair enough. Rose gave a quick leg sweep as the figure began to speak, which, as she guessed, they jumped to avoid. 

Perfect.

Rose threw the needles upwards, aiming for the softest spots she knew on the troll. One needle lodged clean in the guard's eye, sending them howling and crashing to the floor again. The other stuck clean out their cheek. Rose drew them both out immediately, taking her gun and stuffing it in the still open mouth of the guard.

At least they were a lower caste, she thought. The blood was a murky brown. Vriska wouldn't be upset. 

She fired once, waited a moment, and fired again. She rose to her feet, looking mournfully at her pant hems. Covered in brown blood. Of course it was. 

Rose made her way down the hall again, taking the pace slow and careful. In the distance, she could hear the occasional shout, the grind of metal on wall, and, of course, Vriska shouting daunts and challenges. Rose hated to admit it, really, she did, but Vriska was the far better fighter. She even managed to make it look beautiful. The blonde scowled a bit, clenching her hands. 

The next guard she ran into she punched clean in the face. He managed to claw her face, leaving a large scratch running down it, before she could fire a shot into his gut. He grunted, doubling over, but not falling. Rose pulled out her needles, bringing one into each hand. 

Vriska jumped clean over her head, landing on the guard. She slammed his head back with a crack, spinning to jam her weapon between his eyes. Rose wiped blood from her cheek, the scowl deepening.

"He was mine," she barked.

Vriska shrugged in return. "Not my fault you suck at killing people, Lalonde. Maybe I could give you lessons?"

"You don't know how to teach."

The troll walked up close. "But you like learning, hm?" Vriska dug one nailed finger into Rose's new injury. "Human blood is disgusting."

Rose shoved her hand away. "Do you have a reason for catching up with me?"

"Damn straight!" Vriska shuffled in her pocket as Rose dabbed at her wound. Soon, the troll produced a rumpled piece of paper, and shoved it against the blonde's chest.

It took moments for Rose to skim the contents. The first page of a weapons shipment. 

It had an address.

"Well, I suppose we should finish up here and go hop a planet or two, shouldn't we?" Rose took the paper, folded it, and placed it within her own pocket. 

Vriska's fingers clenched down on her scimitar. Her eye narrowed to a slit. Someone was coming then. 

Rose turned to look over her shoulder. Sure enough, illuminated by the green light stood a group of six guards. Rose gave a quick survey of her surroundings, thinking back to the patterns of hallways. There'd be a fire escape up ahead, but there was no way to go down it without someone looking after the guards. The information needed to go back to their base here as quickly as possible.

That's what Vriska was for, she supposed. Without a second glance to her partner, Rose took off down the hall. A bustle of footfalls followed her, and the occasional shouts of "You fuckers" and "Come and get me!" let her know that Vriska was close behind. 

But she still was behind, and that's what Rose counted on when she made a sudden turn to the right and slammed the door behind her. She barely glanced at the room, opting to run across it as fast as possible. The fire exit was right ahead, just like it should be. Rose had her fingers on the escape when the other door slammed open.

Vriska was disheveled and prying an arm off from her neck. Hands were wrapped around her legs but she stomped forward anyway. A pool of blood lay outside the door. Rose had to admit, these guards were very good at their job compared to most of the employees of the Empress she had fought recently.

"Rose Lalonde, if you leave this building without me, I am going to make sure you regret it for the rest of your miserable life," Vriska hissed. She bared her teeth. Blood clung in lumps to her hair. She punched a guard. Rose couldn't stop staring.

Another guard tackled Vriska from behind, and then another came on top of that. Footsteps rung out in the hall, signaling to Rose that it was time to leave before a gun was trained on her.

"You shit!" Vriska shouted. "I hate you so god damn much Lalonde I am not taking the fall for this again, you get right back here-"

"I'll see you in a few days!" Rose called, throwing a needle into the eye of an approaching troll. She flashed the paper, winked and blew a kiss to her partner in crime, and slid behind the door as bullets littered the wall behind her. The night air was cold on her face and she ran down the steps three at a time, down two flights before the gunshots started raining down on her.

If there was one thing Rose was good at, it was sneaking around.

She wondered if anywhere would serve her a drink with the massive gash down her face. 

-

You tap the cell walls with your nails one at a time. You stop after eight taps, pause, and start again. The cell is bright and you haven't slept yet. Your eyes are narrow slits. Hair clumps together by your ears and horns, still matted with blood from your escapades the few nights back (you're still thinking in human terms and that irks you to no end).

You're going to break out of prison in under five minutes. But until then you're going to sit on your ass in the corner of the dankest, grossest jail cell you've had the honour of being dumped in. You hate how that scheming, squishy child got the best of you again. You hate the kisses and the winks and how she somehow never ends up damp and dirty in the prison system.

Your name is Vriska Serket and you are going to make good on your promise to rip out all Rose's hair if it's the last thing you ever get to do in the world.


End file.
